An unconventional, complicated examination of Christianity. “What if there was a way to read and really understand the Bible that has been kept hidden for centuries by the professional religious leaders of our mainstream [church]?” Slobodzien asks at the start of the latest edition of his exhaustively researched book. The work began as an essay on the recurrence of the number seven in the Bible (the Seven Deadly Sins, the seven pillars of God’s wisdom, and so on), but it has since grown to its present, extremely detailed state, which incorporates everything from the Apocrypha to the apocalypse to Chinese numerology, Mayan rituals and legends of Atlantis. The author relates it all to 21st-century science and society, spotlighting such varied concepts as quantum physics, dark energy, addiction theory, and the Bible’s stances on alcohol and sex. His main focus on “forms and numbers” leads him into some very complicated research, which he presents with clarity and infectious enthusiasm, but his ultimate goal is simplicity rather than profusion. He frequently mentions the torturous dogma of non-Christian religions (“[T]he Jewish Pharisees believed that they had to obey 613 religious commandments or taboos against specific behaviors to have a right relationship with God”) and stresses that “Jesus came to bring us something new—the New Covenant,” adding: “He did not come to bring us another organized religion called Christianity with temples and a priesthood like Judaism.” Some conclusions he draws may strike readers as bizarre (particularly his contention that the Nazis brought about the Holocaust as revenge against the Jews for their ancient crimes against Aryan culture), and on the whole, his book has little to say to non-Christians or atheists. However, Christian readers will likely find his criticisms of organized religions provocative and his frequent calls to an inner, personal faith, free from the “toxic” perversions of organized religions, reassuring. A spirited revisionist look at Christian doctrine.
Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2012
ISBN: 978-1480135802
Page Count: 400
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Oct. 16, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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